Family Living Act of 2003

The Family Living Act (FLA), formally known as An Act to amend the Multiple Dwelling and Residence Law, the Public Housing Law, and the Real Property Law regarding sale of homes to extended family bidding entities, is a landmark Urcean law enacted by the Concilium Daoni in 2003 and signed into law by King Aedanicus IX on March 23, 2003. It represents the most significant pieces of housing and real estate law in the history of Urcea, and is considered one of the signature accomplishments of the administration of Procurator Michael Witte.

The legislation had wide-reaching aims, including impeding the growth of suburban sprawl throughout the country, reintegrating families and estates, preserving greenspace, and building durable "small urban" communities now known as the Urban Town and Country (UTC) model.

Provisions

Multiple structure first offer rule

The "multiple structure first offer rule" (MSFOR) is considered to be the core provision of the law. MSFOR provides that, when any individual, corporation, or any other firm or their agent purchase land with the intent to construct multiple single or multi-family houses for individual sale, that the individual or firm must first offer the entire property to the general public for family kinship groups, and, failing to sell the entire property, must subsequently divide it into smaller chunks, only after which time the individual or firm may sell individual houses.

MSFOR means, in practice, that any developer wishing to create a subdivision must offer for sale the entire subdivision to a family kinship group, or break up the subdivision for sale to multiple kinship groups, before being able to sell off homes individually. For the purposes of the law, family kinship group has a number of definitions, though most relate to either a large extended family group (close cousins, siblings, parents, etc.) or a kinship group within the Urcean estate system.

MSFOR was devised as an answer to social and scholarly observations of the isolating effect of suburban life, particularly suburban single-family home living, on Urcean society. Prior to the 1950s, many Urceans lived either with or within a mile from a majority of people in their family within the fourth degree of consanguinity (i.e. uncles, first cousins, grandparents, etc.), a situation radically altered by 1990. MSFOR was intended to reunite families and build communities that consisted of people of close relation, ensuring that community ties and "soft" social safety nets existed to help individuals in need. The "subsequent subdivision" rule within MSFOR meant that most major subdivisions built after the implementation of the law would include a handful of extended family groups.

As part of the implementation of MSFOR, developers are required to offer their properties on a National Property Exchange (NPE), which families could browse. The NPE was required to list the price, number of homes, average square feet per home, and other relevant real estate information. The exchange was established under the law as a public resource. From the implementation of the law until 2019, the exchange was listed online with requirements that all nearby new developments be placed as a classified ad in any newspaper within 20 miles of the development with a circulation of 25,000 or more. In 2019, the newspaper requirement was abolished, and the NPE became an exclusively online resource.